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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26127043">Common Reactor</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetormentita/pseuds/thetormentita'>thetormentita</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>zola henderson's duckventures [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, Venom (Movie 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU definitely, Recreational Drugs, Swearing, longing and thirst, more of a mythologic loki than a comic one sorry not sorry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:55:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,439</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26127043</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetormentita/pseuds/thetormentita</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
          <p>I decided that Zola would be playing some specific songs, and in this chapter it's "In the hearts of men" by First Aid Kit. Listen it! It's pretty cool!</p>
        </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>zola henderson's duckventures [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952254</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. in the hearts of men</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It is a chilly morning that one. He likes to walk that early maybe because the only ones that dare to go outside are too selfish to realize who is standing next to them. Well, and he also adores to observe them, to notice small details that nobody would see easily.</p><p>With his hands in the pockets of his coat, he starts to blend with the people, with his stomach empty and his mind clear. As soon as he comes into one of his favourite neighborhoods in the whole city, a voice can be heard among the crowded street and the noises of the vehicles’ motors that seem to be almost racing with the others next to them.</p><p>«<em>... when there’s no use, and the lights are all out...</em>»</p><p>He can’t help but smile, just a bit. That voice is almost like the only single thing that can even cheer him up those days. He keeps walking to where that person is, and at the same time he is picturing her on his mind: long black hair, sparkling green eyes, her bangs covering half of the scar that dared to alter her soft pale skin.</p><p>Before he can notice, he arrives maybe too close to where she id sat, over a pair of old filthy blankets that she uses to keep in the whorehouse of the front sidewalk when she is not playing there. For a moment he stands up there, observing her. With a grey beanie covering her head, two long braids are falling over her shoulders, almost held by the rainbow colored scarf that is keeping her warm, she is singing about despair, broken hearts, parties and everything somebody could think about but love, and that makes her special at his eyes. Somebody realistic, disenchanted, that made the town’s life kind of easier without realizing it.</p><p>He approaches her as she is finishing that tune about kindness in men’s hearts and leaves a bill in the guitar’s case, that already had some coins in it. He wonders if she had appeared there too soon that morning.</p><p>“Thanks, mr. D!” when those big eyes look at him he feels lighter “It’ll be well inverted in a huge coffee.”</p><p>She gives him a warm smile, able to cheer up the numbest of hearts.</p><p>“Thanks to you” he almost forces himself to smile back at her, trying to not be rude “When do you plan to make a pause? I think I need a cuppa.”</p><p>The woman leans forward to the guitar case and makes a gesture he finds awkwardly amusing, then she picks up all the money and puts it in her bag before standing up quickly, almost with a jump, and that says more about her than she wants. As she puts her guitar on it’s crate and picks it up, he can observe some smoke stains on her jeans.</p><p>“Right now? Today it’s fucking freezing, I hope it doesn’t rain today.”</p><p>He knows well that rain meant no more money for her that day, and she hardly couldn’t afford a free day.</p><p>“I think in a while we’ll have our much appreciated sun, don’t worry about it” she looks at him for a moment, hopeful “Why don’t you try to go to the bay? It’s high season, today you can get more tips than here on the streets” she likes to refer to the money people left in the guitar case ‘tips’, and he won’t be the one to change it “At least that’s what I would do if I were you.”</p><p>She shrugs her shoulders as they arrive to the coffee shop they both loved. She opens the door and makes him come into first, alleging that he should be the first because he is more important than her. He almost frowns at the usual joke, but keeps himself quiet about it. If he wants to reply he knows well that he should do it in private.</p><p>“Morning Bobby!” the bartender welcome them as well, like infused with some of warmth she irradiates. </p><p>As soon as the skinny man gets their coffees done, he pays them and picks them up from the counter, only to go with her to the most private table from all the place, at the opposite corner from the entrance door and the counter. When she sits down, the first she does is to put her hands covered in a pair of fingerless gloves grey as her hat around the cup. She looks adorable.</p><p>As he sits in front of her, the fact of those greenish eyes observing him make him almost uncomfortable despite the affection he has for that woman.</p><p>"How are you? How are things at home?"</p><p>She just shrugs her shoulders. It drives him crazy the fact that she could easily give advice and listen to everything he could tell her but resist in the way she was, showing him and the whole world how insanely stubborn she was.</p><p>"Everything okay, no changes" she almost smiles and sips her coffee "You worry too much. Since Dave is the one who managed to keep a proper job after all this shit, Lazar has decided that it would be okay to  thank him quite loudly about paying the biggest part of the rent" she grimaces and that makes him chuckle "Except that, I'm doing okay. If I get enough money I'll get my laptop fixed so I can restart again and be my old self again, but, y'know, I think I kinda like this" he raises an eyebrow, like if he was searching a proper question to pose "The people, the different faces every day and the ones that keep finding me no matter what" she winks at him and he swears he flushed.</p><p>"That's nice, it truly is" he drinks from his own cup and shakes his head ". But you can't keep freezing your butt your whole life."</p><p>"Please, don't start with that again" she sighes and bits her lower lip, that slight movement makes him lose track of his thoughts for a second.</p><p>"I can help you. And your flatmates. Come with me and I'll give you the best equipment you could think of. You could give your skills a purpose, other than exchanging songs for coffee."</p><p>At the beginning they had been complete strangers to each other, but her quirks and her vision of the world were guilty of that sort of attraction towards her. He had swore to himself that he would never touch her, he almost did not dare to think about that. He wasn't one of those men. She was completely free to develop that side of herself with whoever she wanted as long as she was safe and sound. What made him almost look for her every day was her brain. Since she told him about her past, about who she had been before the whole system collapsed, and he wanted to use that side of her, always with her permission. She was aware of his work, and she never seemed to reject it or the idea of working there, but she never had agreed to it.</p><p>"Today, the 2nd of May, I beg you for the upteenth time since we first met" she smirks, amused, and that enlightens his heart ", please, Zola, join me" She bits her lower lip. Again. It disturbes something deep inside him in a strangely pleasant way ". Join the Life Foundation."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I decided that Zola would be playing some specific songs, and in this chapter it's "In the hearts of men" by First Aid Kit. Listen it! It's pretty cool!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. solar gap</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She moved to a more crowded area, like he had suggested, and soon tourists approached her, leaving after three songs enough money to save the day. Despite that, she keeps playing, more for her own enjoyment than for economic reasons.</p><p>As Drake had told that early morning, the sun came out and people cheered up, and that means that she can allow a free day. While she is playing a sort of solo, with her back against a brick wall, almost looking at the sea, her mind is somewhere else, on the proposal made hours before. She begged him for a day to think about it seriously and she needs to decide if it will be a good place for her.</p><p>“Do it.”</p><p>Her eyelids flutter under the sunglasses she had put a while ago, like if she wants to return from the depth of her thoughts. That voice sounds real, more than her meditations, and she looks around for the man who had talked a second before.</p><p>There he is: tall, slim, dark hair sort of slick with gel or something, and she wonders another time why he bethers to do that. She just raises an eyebrow at him, feeling a tingling sensation at the base of her spine.</p><p>“Rumour has it that you’ve got a very important man after you, my girl” he ducks to approach her and looks at her better, like if he tries to not call somebody’s attention.</p><p>“What do you know about anything in my life, you trickster?” she grimaces “Got a sucker?”</p><p>He grins and hands her an orange lollipop. His eyes are wondering how she can base her feeding on coffee and sweets and be as healthy as she seems. She thanks him and opens it while people seem to just ignore them. Both like how society pretends that they never meet.</p><p>“You’ve said it, I’m a trickster. He gave you his number, and you are still thinking about if you should accept his offer. Am I wrong?” when she shakes her head he puts a face “I supposed so.”</p><p>“At least he cares, and hasn’t left me behind. Where the heck have you been these months?”</p><p>“Let’s say I had a bit of a trouble as well” he shrugs his shoulders “Carlton Drake is rich, richer than you can imagine. He has something in mind that I haven’t been able to know for the moment, but he can give you a part of that money if you help him. You know how these things go between humans...”</p><p>Despite being focused on that conversation, something inside her feels observed.</p><p>“And what do you get from all of this? What do you care? I don’t give a fuck if you think I owe you something.”</p><p>“You are who you are and I am pleased with that” she raises an eyebrow with the candy still on her mouth “My winter giant deserves something big, really big, and I think that man can give it to you” he tries to stroke her hair, and she glances at him, almost like she is going to bite his hand “Are you aware that you are pushing me to apologize? Me. I can’t believe it” he puts a face for a second, trying to seem dramatic, before returning to his normal gesture “You had your problems, I had to pretend I had my neck broken, sweetheart. I haven’t been able to rush for some time, I’m sure you will understand me.”</p><p>She sighs.</p><p>“What the fuck do you want, Laufeyson”</p><p>Her eyes are placed on him, and his on her. Despite being silent for just an instant, she feels like she can read his mind. Maybe he is letting her to observe his thoughts, that isn’t the first time he does that, possibly out of boredom or curiosity.</p><p>"You are rusty" she wants to complain but he raises just a finger, his index, and puts it over her lips, brushing them, almost daring "You can't get the money we got the last time because since the snapping you lost almost everything and you and your friends can't afford internet at home. Am I wrong?" she raises both eyebrows out of surprise, but thinking that it is not that weird with him involved "Accept it. Join Life Foundation and be Carlton Drake's friend. What can you lose? It will get you some time to get used to your systems again, but he will gladly pay for your equipment while you get your own money to buy yours." she really hates those speeches, like he knew everything on the Universe, but this time it is different, a sad spark on his eyes is trying to tell her something else.</p><p>Their relationship is old, she uses to thought that it is old as time itself. The first time they met she was a brat who used to spend more time in front of a laptop than observing the world around her. She was mad for something she couldn't remember anymore, and out of nowhere this strange man appeared, making her promises and telling her stories that made her forget everything around her for a moment. At the beginning she had considered it something like her imaginary friend, but he was too real for that. Together they had caused havoc on the internet, with her showing him all she could do and him encouraging her and rewarding her with feelings she thought they never existed.</p><p>"Once you have reconciled with your old self, I will need of your skills, again, to do something very specific and very important for me. I am patient, you know, and we can consider it will be a payment for your gift, Skaði."</p><p>She stands up, like if somebody had pressed a button to make her raise. In her ascension she pushes him, almost making him sit on the ground. She uses to be calmed, even Tracy made jokes that she had pot still in her body and that made her irradiate a sort of careless serenity, but that man in front of her makes her revolve. As soon as he stands up as well, she pushes him with a hand on his chest, twice.</p><p>"How do you dare to say I'm rusty? Me, rusty!" a bitter smile is drown on her face "Get the fuck outta here, you filthy piece of shit."</p><p>"Language" the glance he throws at her almost makes her puke out of anger. The almost consumed lollipop falls to the ground, not too far from her feet.</p><p>"Eat my pussy!"</p><p>Suddenly he gives three paces, backwards, with those eyes of his alert, almost freaking out. She tries to approach him but her feet stay where they are.</p><p>"Expect my call, dear juggernaut" he mumbles before disappearing between the crowd.</p><p>She takes a deep breath, with her fists clenched. She doesn’t noticed she is shaking. When she decides to return to where she was, a strange voice almost makes her shiver. When she turns to face the man who was talking to her, for a moment gets lost in the blue of his eyes.</p><p>"Are you okay? Do you need any help?"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Listen to Hinds "Solar gap", that's what Zola is playing on her guitar. :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. soldier’s poem</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That strange feeling was something he had got used to despite the bitterness about it. Half of the population of the universe vanished, and the other half on constant mourning. Everybody lost a mom, a dad, a sibling, a significant other, a friend, a neighbor, and despite all of that they were going on with their lives as well as they could. He had met with Nat after one of those meetings he used to attend, mainly to try to soothe his own bitterness, whom he thought it was buried for a long time, and they had decided that they should continue with their lives as well.</p><p>He had felt sadness when she told him that she wanted to keep up with her life as an Avenger, even if there were just a few of them still living. They both had talked about their desires, their pasts and what they would have done with their lives if they had had the chance. A chance. That’s all he needed. Almost without noticing, he had decided a specific point on the country, thinking that it would be easier if his accent wasn’t an obstacle. </p><p>San Francisco.</p><p>He chooses a rented flat. Just for some days. Unsure how the owners would handle with his face if they know him as Captain America, something almost everybody in the United States does, he just sends them the money, trying to see them the least as posible.</p><p>The first two days are just for exploring. It is thrilling. The fact that he had left everything related to the Captain aside makes him feel lighter. There are always the memories, and his own ghosts surrounding him, but he is used to it. Every morning he goes out for a walk, no matter the street, no matter the weather, and in those warm days he discovers something strange — Better said, somebody. There is this woman, always playing her guitar, sitting on the sidewalk leaving enough space for people to pass by her side, singing about anything but love. The first time he sees her, he stops near her to listen to a couple of songs, and as she had noticed his presence there despite not having looked at him at all she starts to sing about the unfairness of the soldiers at war. That is touching. After the second tune, this time a cover of Billie Holliday he hadn’t listened to for decades, he leaves a bill in the guitar case next to her.</p><p>“Thank you, sir!” the warmth of her smile is breathtaking “Have a really good day.” her eyes fixed on his face are able to drive any man insane.</p><p>As he leaves the place she starts another song.</p><p>The following day something similar happens, and the day after that. Every opportunity to face her gives him more information about her, making his curiosity grow.</p><p>It isn’t until the fourth day that he finds her different, far from her usual calmness. There is this man, unknown but something deep inside him tells him that the stranger is somebody he knows, too close to her, that makes her feel clearly uncomfortable. The fact that nobody seems to care about her drives him mad. He slowly approaches them, observing every detail about them, if he touches her, if she flinches, if somebody starts to yell things like 'eat my pussy'. Something inside his mind screams that he was supposedly wanting to keep himself aside from everything and everybody, but his impulse was stronger.</p><p>He tries to catch their attention when he sees the woman trying to push the man, and their gazes meet for a moment not long enough for him to be sure about the face of the stranger bothering the musician. When he leaves her alone and she turns to face him, she goes silent for a moment before nodding.</p><p>"Yeah, I think so" she trembles and she doesn't seem to notice it "Thanks" she looks at him in the eye again, and he can fully appreciate her eyes as well, greenish with a touch of honey, or at least that's what it seems to him.</p><p>"You are shaking" the moment he places a hand on her arm, carefully, she frowns and nods, looking at the ground "Do you want to go to the police or something?" she shakes her head, silent, and something inside him aches "Is there any way I can help?" he mumbles, and a spark seems to enlighten her eyes for a moment, making her to stop trembling like a leaf.</p><p>"Coffee? I owe my saviour something, and a good cup of coffee would certainly help"</p><p>She smiles, hopeful, and it breaks all his walls.</p><p>A while after they are sat on a coffee, and for a moment he believes that his choice was correct. They are talking about lots of things. Soon she gets confident enough to show her inner self to him. They start talking about music, obviously, and he isn't able to tell if she keeps talking about jazz because she knows about him or she has a sort of crush on Billie Holliday, but when she starts with Nina Simone and Janis Joplin his doubts disappear and instead a sort of reminder is placed telling himself to listen to those women. He tries to somewhat stick to what he knows, ashamed to recognize to himself that he had left arts a bit aside since he was found.</p><p>"Well, here I'm, talkin' like a parrot and I haven't told ya my name" she chuckles and gives him her hand "I'm Zola"</p><p>That name freezes him for a moment, but tries to keep himself chill with it. The memories hit him like a wrecking ball and for a moment he can see Bucky sat next to her, laughing like a maniac. After introducing himself just as a normal civilian, he asks her about her name.</p><p>"It's my granny's fault, y'know? She was English" something in the depth of his brains starts to associate her with Peggy, without any reason but the nationality, and the feeling that the black-haired woman in front of him is more related to him than he wishes disturbs him "She was an actress, appeared in some Chaplin films back in the '10s and the '20s" the feeling starts to vanish but there are too many coincidences "She used to act as a sort of sideshow or something like that, but was more into cabarets and stuff like that" she shrugs her shoulders and sips from her cup, he thinks that maybe it's too much coffee for a body like hers "My mum decided that it would be cool to have her only daughter called like that, so that's the story of my name."</p><p>For a moment she seemed lovely, genuine. The fact that she would have easily passed as a young lady from 1920's makes something inside him revolve. For a moment he wonders if Bucky, his dearest Bucky, didn't had any kind of relationship in his life that ended in Zola.</p><p>They keep talking, and he can see some quirks of Buck in her, but he also discovers that he kinda likes her in some way.</p><p>“You say he wanted you to accept a proposal, can I ask about it?” he sips his coffee and observes her as she searches in her backpack for something she seems she can’t find. </p><p>“You know Life Foundation?” he raises an eyebrow and keeps quiet, thinking that there are too many things he doesn’t know about the world he has decided to exile himself “Its founder wants me to work there.”</p><p>“And I assume it’s a good opportunity” he tries to wonder from her reaction something about the man or the place.</p><p>“It’s a blast! Carlton Drake is loaded with money. He’s this sort of brainiac or something like that, and we’ve been talking almost every single day since the vanishing happened, because I went outside to exchange songs for coffee” she seems excited, and he likes the spark on her eyes “I’m a computer engineer and when we talked about this stuff he told me that he wanted me to work with him. Well, he’s kinda weird, y’know, but he’s nice, and sweet. His foundation helps ill people and is huge as fuck, you can even see it from the bay— And the best thing is that a month of salary would let me pay the rent for the flat for at least two months without needing Dave and Lazar.”</p><p>He smiled, softly. Those are great news, and he’s happy for her, but something inside him doesn’t want her to accept it.</p><p>“You don’t know me and you don’t have to listen to me if you don’t want to, but I would take the job.” she looks at him in the eye and raises an eyebrow “I mean it. It will be a pity to not hear you and your guitar anymore when I go outside, but you deserve it. You are more than a singer exchanging songs for coffee”</p><p>She smiles. He smiles. Around her everything seems to be simpler, lighter, and he realizes that he has always needed somebody like her.</p><p>“You sure?” he nods and finishes his drink. She finally finds what she was looking for, a business card, and puts it and her phone on the table “I told him I would give him an answer tomorrow, but fuck it.”</p><p>She dials the number on the card and waits until somebody answers. While she talks he observes around, trying to not fix his eyes on her, but he notices one of her ears pierced with at least half dozen of earrings, all simple and small, mainly composed by a chain between two of them and easy designs. As she talks, with a sort of satisfaction stamped on her face, he feels pride of her despite having talked just for a couple of hours. Her way of negotiating is strange, he finds it funny. Her main worries are the clothes and if she will have to work with other people in the same room. She also asks if she will be able to listen to music, even if it’s using her earphones, because she says that’s the best way she can get her work done, and cracks a smile, proud and daring like Bucky, when she gets the answer. She doesn’t ask about the salary, or the hours she has to spend there every day, and for a moment he thinks, again, that she doesn’t belong to the 21st century.</p><p>As soon as she hangs up, she bangs the table happily, and the empty cups move a quarter of an inch. Despite losing the possibility to enjoy more moments like that one, he is glad for her. She manages to move on despite the snapping tearing her life apart and he still thinks she’s brave, as those people from the meetings in New York that told they were able to date somebody.</p><p>“Got it! I start next Monday” that makes him smirk, pleased “That means I have three whole days to enjoy before getting forced again to work like everybody else” she sticks her tongue out, cheeky “Do you have something to do this weekend?” it catches him unprepared “There’s this exhibition in a gallery near your place” for a moment he forgets that he told her that he saw her the first day near the street his flat is. She takes a pen and on the other side of the business card writes something, an address followed by a phone number, and he thinks she’s being naïve, but maybe there is a chance that she might like him “It’s about the city before the Second World War, I think it’s pretty interesting, and it can help you spot a cool place here. I’ll be there this Saturday at 8pm, will you?” as she writes down the day and the hour his heart skips a beat.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Go and take a look at Muse’s “Soldier Poem” :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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